Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/417

Rh terminated with the slaughter of King Roderic and the flower of his nobility, was fought in the sum- mer of 711, on a plain washed by the Guadalete near Xerez, about two leagues distant from Cadiz. The Goths appear never to have afterwards rallied under one head, but their broken detachments made many a gallant stand in such strong positions as were afforded throughout the kingdom; so that nearly three years elapsed before the final achievement of the conquest. The policy of the conquerors, after making the requisite allowance for the evils necessarily attending such an invasion,